Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance talks in his office in Birmingham, Ala., near a portrait of his father, slain U.S. Circuit Judge Robert S. Vance. (Jay Reeves/AP)

Two other bombs, including one mailed to the NAACP office in Jacksonville, Florida, were intercepted and did not explode.

At his 1996 trial, prosecutors described Moody as a meticulous coward who killed Vance because of his obsession with getting revenge on the legal system. They said he then sent out additional package bombs to make it look like the Ku Klux Klan was behind the judge's murder.

Moody maintained his innocence, and his attorneys argued in court filings and a clemency petition to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey that his age and vein condition would make the lethal injection more difficult.

Moody's attorneys filed clemency petition to Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, arguing that his age and vein condition would make lethal injection more difficult. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

The US Supreme Court issued a temporary stay for Moody around 6 p.m. Thursday, before it was lifted without comment about an hour later.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Thursday night that after nearly 30 years, "Tonight, Mr. Moody's appeals finally came to a rightful end. Justice has been served."

The previous record holder for oldest inmate to be put to death in modern times was set by John Nixon, a 77-year-old Mississippi man who was convicted of murdering a woman in 1985.

Officials consider executions performed after 1976 "modern times" — since that's when the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.